dragging brakes

[whitey_mb]

My rear brakes had been dragging lately. The car would start shaking on the highway, and when I pulled over, they would be locked up and I could smell them burning. (If it happened at night, the rotors would glow!) After a week or so of this, I took it to nissan and they said the calipers were bad. They wanted some obscene amount of money to replace them so I decided to do it(and the pads and rotors of course) myself.

I just did all that today, and five miles down the highway they started dragging again. I happened to pull over near a Brake Check so I had them look at it. They looked at everything I had done and said it looked fine. They also said the fronts were fairly worn, and that might somehow be forcing the rears to work harder. I don't know how plausible that is, though. Any ideas?

- Marty

[kalieaire]

it looks like your hand brake cables might have seized.

you'll have to replace them if that's the case. or you might be lucky by just greasing them up and using some wd40 in certain areas.


however, if that's not the case, which I am starting to fear.

It's the actual brake piston.

It might've seized up in the caliper.

It's also very possible that the dust boots have worn to the point in which they've come off, or cracked and split, allowing dust to get into the caliper. If this happens, it can cut up the seals during operation and possibly score the cylinder walls of your calipers.

However I'm thinking about this again, since this happened to both your calipers, I assume from your description, it sounds like the hand brake cable is locked up.

not a good thing.. fix it asap, brakes aren't something you want to put off, unless your life is something that's not something that takes first priority.

--You could always take it to a brake shop, they'll usually be a lot cheaper as well as guarantee their work.

At worst, you'll have to have them rebuild the calipers, a seal set costs ~23 dollars. the real expense is the labor.

[RacerBoi]

My e-brake seized up, but it happened when it was parked. It wasnt on then off though. They just seized up and stayed that way. I had to replace most of the assembly. Does it happen when you start to break or just randomly? Good Luck

[whitey_mb]

Hmmm, you both mentioned the handbrake cables. Haven't looked at those yet. It seems to be working properly when I pull it and release it, but I'll check the actual cables.

It just strikes me as weird the way the brakes act. They're fine right now, but if I started driving, about 5 minutes after leaving the driveway, they'd lock up big time. When I pull over and wait for a while, they'll be fine again. Strange...


- Marty